S&P 500 and Ichimoku clouds

by Malcolm Pryor on 10/11/2012

Ichimoku clouds feature increasingly in technical analysis. Different analysts use them in different ways, I like to look at 2 things, where is price versus the clouds, and where is the lagging line versus the clouds. For a quick intro go to the Chart School section at stockcharts.com.
On the daily chart of the S&P500 price has fallen through the cloud, but the lagging line is still in the cloud; the cloud could still offer some kind of last minute support, and the bearish case is not fully confirmed for me until that lagging line gets through the cloud.
Weekly chart: price and lagging line above the cloud (cloud is at 1250 to 1330, so significant falls still possible before the bullish case is lost).
Monthly chart: price and lagging line above the cloud (cloud is at 1020 t0 1150, so very significant falls possible before the bullish case is lost).